John Collins-Muhammad

John Collins-Muhammad, Jr. (born 1991), commonly known as John Muhammad is an activist and American politician from the state of Missouri. He currently serves on the Board of Alderman of the City of St. Louis representing the 21st Ward where he represents portions of North City. Collins-Muhammad was elected to his first term in April 2017 at the age of 25, which makes him the youngest person ever to be elected and the first Muslim ever elected to the St. Louis Board of Alderman.

John Collins-Muhammad
Alderman for the 21st Ward of St. Louis
Assumed office
April 2017
Preceded byAntonio D. French
Personal details
Born1991 (age 28–29)
St. Louis
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceSt. Louis City

Early life

Collins-Muhammad was raised in North City, St. Louis, Missouri in the Greater Ville Neighborhood. A graduate of St. Mary's High School, He went on to complete his studies in political science and history at the only two HBCU’s in Missouri; Lincoln University in Jefferson City and Harris-Stowe State University in Saint Louis.

While in college, Collins-Muhammad served as a Legislative Intern to former Missouri state representatives Rodney Hubbard and Talibden "T.D." El-Amin. He worked in the St. Louis City License Collector's office under Michael McMillan. He has worked in various departments and agencies in Missouri state government. in 2016, for a short time, he worked for AFL-CIO's Working America as a Lead Regional Organizer.

Collins-Muhammad is a practicing Muslim and is a member of the Nation of Islam under Louis Farrakhan.[1] He is known to be an assistant minister at the Nation of Islam's temple in St. Louis, Muhammad Mosque 28. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Nation of Islam as a Black nationalist group with its' theology of innate black superiority over whites and the deeply racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBT rhetoric. Collins-Muhammad also has strong ties to the St. Louis branch of the Moorish Science Temple.

Political career

Collins-Muhammad was elected to his first term as Alderman for the city's 21st Ward in April 2017 following Alderman Antonio D. French's vacation of the seat to run for Mayor. At age 25, he is the youngest person ever to be elected Alderman in the city's history.

In the Board of Aldermen, Collins-Muhammad currently serves or has served on the following committees;

  • Committee on Ways & Means
  • Committee on Public Safety
  • Committee on Transportation & Commerce
  • Committee on Public Utilities
  • Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs

He is also a member of the African-American Aldermanic Caucus. The African-American Aldermanic Caucus is a caucus made up of African-American members of the Board of Aldermen. [2]

In 2017, Collins-Muhammad proposed a major redevelopment plan on Natural Bridge Avenue; one of the city's most derelict and less economically developed Corridors. Natural Bridge Avenue sits in the middle of North St. Louis, and is populated by crime, a decreasing housing market, and vacant buildings. Collins-Muhammad's plan included a blighting, and a 15-year tax abatement on property on Natural Bridge Avenue, and additional funding in Tax Increment Financing to developers.[3]

In 2018, in response to high freezing temperatures, Collins-Muhammad gained mass local media attention for opening up an emergency homeless shelter at St. Peter community center in his ward. The emergency shelter houses up to 150 people per night and is operated 24 hours a day. St. Peter community center is owned by St. Peter African Methodist Episcopal church in St. Louis. Collins-Muhammad also wrote an open letter to the Missouri Governor to call attention to the homeless epidemic in St. Louis. [4]

Collins-Muhammad sponsored legislation creating the one dollar housing program; a year long pilot program aimed at selling residential properties owned by the city's real estate department known as Land Re-utilization Authority for $1.00. The legislation established a lease program in which interested developers could obtain an 18-month lease on the property, and undertake a rehabilitation that would need to be completed in that time frame.[5][6][7]

Collins-Muhammad introduced a Board Bill creating “ban the box”, prohibiting employers in the City of St. Louis, Missouri, from basing job hiring or promotion decisions on applicants’ criminal histories. The Ordinance will take effect on January 1, 2021, for employers with at least 10 employees. Under the law, applicants with criminal histories are less likely to be considered for an available job when the information is included on an initial job application, and that revealing a criminal history on an initial job application often results in an applicant’s elimination from consideration.[8][9]

Prior to running for Alderman, Collins-Muhammad, in 2016 ran unsuccessfully for Missouri state representative of the 77th district placing second in a four-way race losing narrowly to Steve Roberts, Jr.[10]

Ferguson Protest

Collins-Muhammad was a known leader in the protest movement following the 2014 death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. He expressed criticism to police militarization and the way the crisis was handled within the community. During the protests, Collins-Muhammad was among the protesters who were tear-gassed by law enforcement and policing agencies. He assisted in the organizing of rallies, events, and protest demonstrations calling for the resignation of Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson and the immediate arrest of police officer Darren Wilson.[11] He was fired in 2014 from the Village of Uplands Park in St. Louis County for making inflammatory remarks on national television about the shooting of two St. Louis area police officers. Fellow Ferguson protester and Black Lives Matter surrogate Tory Russell is a known associate of Collins-Muhammad and served as his campaign manager.

Controversy

Protests erupted after a white police officer Jason Stockley was acquitted for murder in the 2011 shooting death of African-American, Anthony Lamar Smith. Collins-Muhammad was one of the organizers of many protest demonstrations which led to mass arrest and police militia response. Collins-Muhammad gained widespread controversy for presenting an honorary resolution remembering Smith. Collins-Muhammad led the Board of Aldermen in unanimously approving and passing the resolution which sparked outrage from the St. Louis police officers association and its supporters.[12]

Collins-Muhammad was arrested by the Florissant Police Department for failure to pay parking & traffic tickets and driving with a suspended license in Fall 2018. Collins-Muhammad had warrants for traffic violations in three St. Louis area municipalities.

Political offices
Political offices
Preceded by
Antonio D. French		 Alderman of the 21st Ward
2017–present		 Incumbent

References
  1. Salaam, J.A. (May 29, 2019). "Muslims unite at St. Louis City Hall for historic Iftar". The Final Call. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  2. "Ward 21". stlouis-mo.gov.
  3. Reporter, Alexis Zotos. "Redevelopment plan in the works for Natural Bridge Avenue in North City". KMOV.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  4. "Alderman writes open letter to governor to call attention to homelessness". FOX 2. 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  5. "Alderman proposes bill to sell homes for $1". ksdk.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  6. "The Dollar House Program - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  7. "St. Louis Prepares To Launch 'Dollar House' Program". St. Louis Public Radio. 2019-01-28. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  8. "Alderman wants to 'ban the box' about criminal history from all job applications in St. Louis". ksdk.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  9. Blandin, Venton. "Alderman pushes for citywide 'ban the box' to keep criminal history off job applications". KMOV.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  10. "John Collins-Muhammad Jr". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  11. "City worker faces fallout after claiming Ferguson police shooting was a 'set up'". FOX 2. 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  12. Bott, Celeste. "St. Louis aldermen pass resolution remembering Anthony Lamar Smith, angering police". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
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